2012 White House Easter Egg Hunt Page 12
Meet LGBTQ Spiritual Leaders Pages 10-11
Remembering Poet Adrienne Rich Page 12
The LGBTQ Newspaper and Events Calendar for the San Francisco Bay Area | July 28 2011 www.sfbaytimes.com
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April 5-18, 2012 | www.sfbaytimes.com
Sisters Celebrate 33 Years with Easter Party
ARTIST: GARY TON GE.
PHOTO BY: JEAN -BAPTIST E C ARHAIX
Resurrecting Religion
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Sister Vicious in 1984
By Sister Dana Van Iquity
Grand Universe, an image provided to the Bay Times by artist Gary Tonge, The Urantia Book
By Rev. Jim Mitulski Easter is a t i me when resur rection metaphors abound for Christ ians. For Jews, it is t he t ime of Passover, the remembrance of liberation from slavery. The natural world spr ings forth w ith f lowers a nd blo om s t h at r e m i nd u s of the cycle of birth and death and re-birth. For ma ny GL BT spi r it ua l ly i nclined people, it may be a time to
Rel ig ion is a nat ura l need. T he des i re to m a ke mea n i ng out of su f fer i ng a nd st r ug gle i s fou nd even among t hose of us who for le g it i m at e r e a s on s h ave a b a n doned the faith of their parents. If you have ever found anything redeeming or comforting in religion, I make this assertion to you at this particular time in history: Religion needs you. Perhaps even more than you need it. This is the time to leverage mutual need and
consider whet her it is wor t h t he ef for t to cont i nue pa r t icipat i ng in rel ig ious trad it ions t hat have h i stor ic a l ly c ont r ibuted to ou r oppression; t rad it ions t hat have traditionally been overt ly or covertly homophobic and sexist. As a gay man and a Christian minister, I feel competent to address some of the trends in Christianity that make this an opportune time to eng age t hese t r ad it ions, a nd claim our rightful place in them.
transform religion into the liberating force it is capable of being. Fo r o v e r t h i r t y y e a r s , I h av e worked for gay and feminist libe r a t ion w h i le m a i nt a i n i n g m y i n v o l v e m e n t i n t h e c hu r c h . I can honestly say that I never expected to see the changes that we a re now seei ng. For most of my career I was a pastor and leader in the Metropolitan Communit y Churches ( MCC), a separatist gay a nd lesbi a n denom i n at ion t h at (continued on page 11
PHOTO SOUR CE: AWEGA L LERY.COM
Pastor Stacy Boorn’s Visual Spirituality
Pastor Stacy Boorn
By Heidi Beeler When Martin Luther wanted the Chu rch’s at tent ion, he na i led a paper to t he door. W hen Pastor Stacy Boorn wanted the Lutheran Church’s at tent ion, she pa i nted the whole church f laming purple. The daughter of a photographer, Stacy was clearly raised to express herself in Kodachrome. The great loud lavender ed if ice on Portola hill ( painted shortly after Prop 8 passed) is Ebenezer/herchurch’s way of honoring the Goddess and show ing sol idar it y w it h persons
In Praise of Balloon
denied equa l r ights. For 8 years now – yea r s before t he D a V inc i Code – Stacy and her congregants have mixed up feminist philosophy w it h Lut hera n t rad it ion. Their goal is not separatism, but restor i ng ba la nce a nd fem i n i ne perspective to a tradition that for centuries only valued male voices and leadership. References to God the Father are ba la nced w it h t he D iv i ne G oddess and Sacred Mother. Gospel read ing s a nd ser mons i l lum in at e women’s c ont r ibut ion s i n the Bible. Traditional hymns are
supplemented with Native American songs, a woman’s drumming circle, and inter pretive dance. A women’s spir itua lit y conference, Herconference, gathers feminists from across the continent. (www. herchurch.org) Stacy believes her c on g r e g at ion’s work i s t r ue t o the spirit of the church that f irst protested the power abuses of the Roma n Cat hol ic Church. “ H is torically, Lutherans have resisted aut hor it ie s t h at abu s e d p ower, subjug at e d p e ople a nd c r e at e d dom i n at ion s y stem s ,” she sa id . “In our liturg y and praxis, divine
love a nd ju st ice a re pa r t ner s .” A long w ith reg ular ser v ices, the cong reg at ion ha s a l so made it s s pa ce av a i l able for a r t i st ic expression. A Woman’s Eye Gallery (w w w. AW Ega l ler y.com) d isplays the stunning photography of f ive a r t i st s , i nc lud i ng t hat of St ac y Boorn herself. “I consider my work v isua l spir it ua l it y,” she sa id. “ You see t he b e a ut y o f t he e a r t h mor e int imately when v iew ing it w it h intent ion t hrough your camera lens.”
T he Sister s of Per pet ua l I ndu lgence, Inc. will celebrate our 33 rd anniversary this Easter weekend. On Sunday, we invite you to celebrate our annual birthday party i n D olor e s P a r k , “ P u m p s a nd Ci rcu mst a nce,” w it h ch i ld ren’s games in the morning and adult f un i n t he a fter noon, i nclud i ng t he Bon net Contest a nd Hun k y Jesus Look-alike Contest emceed by Sister Roma and myself. It’s hard to believe that 33 years have passed since our incept ion in 1979, when a sma l l g roup of gay men in San Francisco began wearing the attire of nuns in public using high camp – at f irst to draw attention to themselves, but later to social conf licts and problem s i n t he que er c om mu n it y. The SF Order, known af fectionately as t he Mot her House, has helped raise over $1 mi l l ion for various causes. We have attracted controversy both within and outs ide t he L GBTQ com mu n it ies , a nd have received t he ha r shest criticism by Popes who of f icially declare us as heretics – a badge we wear with pride. I n October 198 0, a dozen nuns h e l d t h e i r f i r s t f u n d r a i s e r, a bingo game and sa lsa dance benef it ing San Francisco’s Metr o p ol it a n C om mu n it y C hu r c h Cuba n Ref ugee P rog ra m, ma king over $1,50 0. We a lso developed a m i s s ion st atement : T he Sister s of Per pet ua l I ndu lgence is a leading-edge Order of queer, L GBTQSt r8 nuns… devoted to community service, ministry and out reach to t hose on t he edges, a nd pr omot i n g hu m a n r i g ht s , res pect for d iver s it y a nd s pi r it ua l en l ighten ment. We bel ieve all people have a right to express their unique joy and beauty, and we use humor and irreverent wit (continued on page 9)